Since I have been taking classes at the Washington, DC, Goethe-Institut, I have been exploring lots of online resources. I have been making promises to my class that I would collect all of these resources in one place -- and here I am.
I hope to be able to actually learn german. I am collecting this book based only on learning German as an English-speaker -- specifically an American. English is English and German is German; however, I shall not be nationalistic.
Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin) You might have seen the American version of this movie, City of Angels
starring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan, but don't let this dissuade you.
Wings of Desire is an eccentric, somber, movie about two angels, Damiel
and Cassiel as they roam the city of Berlin, unseen and unheard by the
people, observing and listening to the diverse thoughts of Berliners.
All in black and white, all under the auspices of the strict rules that
Angels follow, unlike the chaotic and beautiful technicolor world of
mortal humanity. This is a movie of longing, love, and desire. A movie
with characters that are both Angels, humans, and also a city, Berlin,
divided into an East and a West, broken. The movie is long,
philosophical, and tends to take itself very seriously sometimes. This
is not a Nic Cage and Meg Ryan romantic comedy, to be sure. I own this
movie on DVD.
Run Lola Run (Lola rennt)
Run Lola Run is a 1998 German thriller film written and directed by Tom
Tykwer, and starring Franka Potente as Lola, Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni,
and Berlin as a compelling background. This may be to coolest movie you
have every seen. There is an 80% chance that you'll rush out and grab
a copy of the soundtrack and maybe even dye your hair red and get a
tattoo. You might fall in love with Franka Potente and Moritz Bleibtreu
both -- and you'll be happy to know that they're both in a bunch of
other great films. In fact, you might recognize Franka Potente from
both The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy as well as a guest star on House.
I don't want to go into the story because there are too many spoilers
to count but mark my words, this is one hell of a exciting ride. I own
this movie on DVD, too.
Good Bye, Lenin! (Good Bye Lenin!)
If you have ever wondered what it was like for real people to go from
living in Communist East Berlin through to the falling of the wall this
is the movie for you. While this is a small, funny, movie, it has been
labeled a tragicomedy as this is a film that wallows in all the
humanity of growing up in the East, the personal politics, the story of
people fleeing to the West, and all of the anti-government protests and
the effect of captialism on the hearts and minds of East Germans after
the wall fell. I don't own this DVD but I surely would do, if you're
considering Christmas and Birthday gifts -- too late, I just ordered
the DVD just now from Amazon!
Go Trabi Go (Go Trabi Go)
I saw this amazing, mad-cap, litle comedy at the theater at the
Goethe-Institut in Washington but I will be forever in love. It is a
quirky comedy about an East German teacher, Udo Struut, who packs up
his Trabant "Trabi" 601 to take a holiday with his little family by
reliving German literay superstar's, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's,
"Italian Journey" which takes them by car all the way through western
Europe in their little car for the very first time since the wall came
down and East Germans were finally allowed to travel freely. The
Trabant auto, a ridiculed symbols of East Germany, is itself a
character in this film, as is the way this family behaves in contrast
with the sophisticated, rich, Porsche-driving western Europeans.
Hilarity ensues and I am sure I will end up buying this on DVD as well.
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
This wild movie addresses the totalitarian excesses of the East German
state before, during, and after the collapse of the wall, exploring the
excessive paranoia and oppression perpetrated by the all-seeing,
all-controlling Stasi, the GDR's secret police. It is pretty
inconceivable how much power and citizen-on-citizen pressure was put on
the people of the German Democratic Republic
AKA East Germany, during the cold war. It is the typical story of
artists and playwrights who are are conspiring to defect and to bring
with them the atrocities and sufferings of the East into the decadent
West, and what the Stasi does to try to disrupt and destroy their plans
of liberation and free thought. While the story is a bit cliché, you've
never seen it like this. Such a tangled web of intrigue and
realpolitik! Such an exploration of loyalty and betrayal! All of this
to such effect that it is considered one of the best movies every made.
Journalist John Podhoretz called the film "one of the greatest movies
ever made, and certainly the best film of this decade" and William F.
Buckley Jr. wrote that, after the film was over, "I turned to my
companion and said, 'I think that this is the best movie I ever saw.'"
Considering how many of my Facebook and Twitter friends recommended it,
I think this film appeals to both conservatives and liberals alike --
and everyone in-between. And, I just ordered this movie on DVD from
Amazon just now.
Mostly Martha (Bella Martha)
I saw this movie in the theater here in the US during its US release
and loved it. This was years before it was defiled by Catherine Zeta
Jones and Aaron Eckhart into the Hollywood dud, No Reservations.
Well, for those of you who love romantic comedies, here's the German
interpretations of it: a staid, serious, obsessed, workaholic, very
Germanic young woman, the head chef of a fancy restaurant in Hamburg,
Germany. She is a perfectionist who is stuck in her ways and
pathological, requiring her to see a therapist to deal with her
culinary pursuit of perfection. She has control issues, considers food
to be high art and does not suffer morons or philistines. I won't go
any further for fear of ruining your romantic comedy experience
experience. Suffice it to say that this is a movie that worships food
and if you loved Julie and Julia you'll not want to miss this one.
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll join culinary school!
The Princess and the Warrior (Der Krieger und die Kaiserin)
OK, I watched this on Netflix because I have a crush on Franka Potente
from Run Lola Run, who plays Sissi, a psychiatric hospital nurse;
however, after I started watching this film, I was hooked. Like Lola,
this movie deals how the decisions you make -- every little one --
effect your fate. The movie hinges around a chance meeting between a
robber, Bodo, and Sissi, the nurse, during a very strange happenstance:
after robbing a grocery store, Bodo causes a truck to hit Sissi;
however, Bodo finds Sissi under the truck and performs an emergency
tracheotomy, saves her life, and then disappears without Sissi ever
knowing who her savior was. Well, the movie is a wild ride and it is
dark and fantastical, dark, delusional, passionate, absurd, spiritual,
and infused with pathos. I almost forget about this gem and I am
pretty sure I need to check this movie out again because I believe I
haven't yet peeled this onion enough but I am sure you'll love it.
Deutsch – Warum nicht? - The course Deutsch – warum nicht?, divided into four parts, tells the story of the journalism student Andreas and his invisible ex. Join the two of them on an adventure and learn German along the way! Each of the four series contains 26 lessons with dialogue, exercises and audios to download. The course covers levels A1 to B1 of the European Framework of Reference for Languages and is geared toward beginners and advanced learners. Deutsch – warum nicht? was produced by Deutsche Welle and the Goethe Institute.
MyGermanClass.com video podcast Podcasts - Explore the MyGermanClass Video Podcasts, with creator Clark Shah-Nelson
Learn to speak German with this Free Podcast - Learn to speak German, to read German and to understand German with this free Podcast from Germany and Switzerland.
Goethe-Institut Podcasts - Every few weeks, a new edition of the Goethe-Institut podcast
introduces highlights and background information on the music programme
of the Goethe-Institutes worldwide. Each edition of this podcast is
available free-of-charge and works just like a short radio show. The
podcast is also available on subscription and has been optimised for
flexible enjoyment on your personal mobile device (e.g. mp3 player).
Slowly spoken news reports - Every day, you can find the newscast from Deutsche Welle's German
Service here – slowly read and clearly articulated just for German
learners.
Sprachbar - "Sprachbar" is an offering that introduces you to the subtleties and secrets of the German language.
Top-Thema mit Vokabeln -
Catch up on news and learn German at the same time. DW-WORLD.DE offers
you up-to-date reports that are easy to understand. The reports are
supplemented with vocabulary lists.
Alltagsdeutsch -
This podcast features fun and quirky radio reports about life in Germany. The audio files are complemented by manuscripts.
Stichwort -
Stichwort is an entertaining program about the latest buzzwords in German.
MyDailyPhrase German - Learn German step by step, day by day, phrase by phrase. In today's show you'll learn to say it's been nice to meet someone.
Geld – Liebe – Hass - Follow the nail-biting trials and tribulations of the family Feinberg, as they help you learn German!
Perspektiven - Perspektiven with Minka and Markus is geared towards first semester
college-level German learners looking for a fun and exciting way to
practice their German. Learn German through Minka and Markus' various
discussions, interviews and entertaining conversations without the
textbook format traditionally used in class!
Das treffende Wort - Join Käthe and Manfred for informal lessons on the German language and culture! This show is geared for intermediate learners of German.
Alles Österreich - Join Anton “ze Austrian”--alias Anton der Österreicher--as he explores Austrian culture, politics, history, and society.
Andere Länder — Anderes Deutsch - This podcast uses unique situations and dialogue to introduce advanced students of German to the Swiss and Austrian national varieties of the German language. Drop in and listen as Birgit from Hannover and Gregor from Graz encounter the distinct standard German varieties of Austria and Switzerland!
Slow German - Brush up your German with Annik!
I have been using Rosetta Stone's online version for a couple years. They don't offer the online version any more but now offer something new online called TOTALE, which offers the same online version of the language software I have used in the past and also offers live-person, native-language speaker coaching as well opportunities to both play games and also interact with other language-learners and speakers to complete the total immersion language-learning experience.
TOTALe™ is a comprehensive online language-learning solution. Speak, read, listen and write with Rosetta Course™, participate in guided sessions with a native-speaking Coach in Rosetta Studio™, and practice your skills in our online community, Rosetta World™.